Much to Say About Identity and Borders

In this weeks reading of “Migrations, Diasporas, and Borders,” S. Friedman presents the language describing culture and identity change. She acknowledges globalization as one of the compelling reasons for change, a means towards evolution. Acknowledging the existence of migration and the social borders between individual and group identities, I can’t help but ponder how this plays out in the classroom. Let’s take for example our primary and secondary education systems in the public sectors. Students attending primary and secondary facilities are faced with an overwhelming variety of identities. Students from Mexico, Eastern Europe, Korea, and so on, all have different perceptions of the world around them, not to mention how they perceive themselves. If we take these varieties of perceptions, and combine them with the worldviews of an institution like school, we might further wonder why chaos does not break out in school.

It is right for Friedman to mention the different state of borders as, “fixed and fluid” (272). Looking at the borders between identities, I find the roles of students shifting by culture. Within public primary schools, I see teachers and students struggling to define identity borders. Some teachers that I come in contact with like their students to behave like the ideal student, the teacher’s ideal student. Students coming from different cultures than that of their teacher often wonder why the teacher reprimands them for inappropriate behaviors, such as leaving their desks to go help someone who is struggling with a math problem. It is within this instance that the teacher might take a step back from their role as teacher and allow the helping student assume the teaching role. On the other hand, some students might not dare interrupt the teacher or leave their desk to help other students. Given that some students only assume the student role in class, there is a marginal zone where teacher might misinterpret behaviors as average next to out going students. These zones of marginality are quite important to be aware of in primary school classes, especially since lesson plans are becoming more and more
standardized.

Given that there is so much to say about identity and the defining borders, I can only begin to scratch the surface. Friedman's essay, while clear, a slew of related topics to discuss, not just in education, but health care, law enforcement, entertainment, etc.